Women Leaders in Aviation
Summit
20-21 October 2015
Lead Inspire Grow
Aviation NZ Strategic Plan 2015-17
A sustainable growth and
member focused Aviation NZ
Lead Inspire Grow
Graeme Harris –
Director of Civil Aviation
◦ What we do
◦ Why it matters
◦ Some disruptive changes
that are shaping aviation
◦ Careers on offer at CAA
◦ Women in key roles
◦ Our strategy to increase
diversity
◦ Your questions
Flying is not about whether the pilot
is a man or a woman. It is about
the results of the actions
imposed by the pilot and the
responses returned by the aircraft.
The aircraft does not
know or
understand gender. It only knows
the difference in a true pilot, and
one who was perhaps not meant to fly.
— Captain Jennifer Kaye,
Air National Guard, 2000.
Our work – what we do
Safe and Secure Skies
To help New Zealand Fly
International and domestic passenger growth
Disruptive changes ahead
Careers at CAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57CjKwwLoUI&feature=youtu.be
Women in key roles
at The Authority
Andrea Wadsworth
Airworthiness Engineer
• 2 years with CAA in the Aircraft Certification
Unit
• Assessing aircraft modifications for safety
and compliance with the required regulations
and airworthiness standards
• Assessing applicability of foreign
Airworthiness Directives to New Zealand
operators
• Mechanical Engineering degree
• Multiple achievements in academic and
athletic excellence (a keen rugby player!)
• Actively altruistic – previously volunteered for
‘big buddy’ programmes, poverty alleviation
projects, school careers presentations.
Currently volunteers for Wellington SPCA
Karen Urwin
Group Manager – Operations AVSEC
• 1 year with Avsec – leading operations, managing
the Explosive Detector Dog programme, and reestablishing Avsec’s intelligence capability
• Senior roles - Immigration New Zealand (IMNZ)
and Department of Corrections - roles included:
• Oversight of the operation of NZ 7 international
airports, & the targeting/ profiling of passengers
• Management of immigration staff based in the
Customs Integrated Targeting and Operations
Centre, border technical systems and contingency
planning.
• Operational planning - Rugby World Cup.
• Corrections role i- oversight of daily operations at
20 prisons and providing specialist security
systems advice.
Let me tell you about Cathy…
Cathy Penney – so many ‘firsts’ in NZ
…Maybe she should be “Dame Cathy”
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Learnt to fly in Piper Cubs with
Wellington Aero Club
PPL-A 1960 – government paid for half
with a £60 subsidy for flight training –
yes women as well as men 
CPL-A 1963 with Marlborough Aero
Club at Omaka;
Category C and B Instructor ratings 1964
with Auckland Flying School at Ardmore
Instructed for Jim Bergman until she got
her Category B 750 hours flight
instructing in aeroplanes – various Aero
Clubs
CPL-H in 1975 with Helicopter Training
Ltd using Hughes 300 B models not
R22s
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Category C Flight Instructor ‘79
Category B Flight Instructor 1980
and R22 rating in 1980
Started Heli-Flight Wairarapa Ltd in
1981 with Laurie Bargh
PPL Flight test privileges ‘83
Category A Flight Instructor ‘88
Sold Heli-Flight ‘95 - joined CAA
Instrument Rating (Aeroplane) 1996
Lisa Sheppard
Principal Policy Advisor and
Manager of the Policy team
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Manager of CAA Policy team of 9 people
Early career in chemistry; switched to
environmental policy
Managed various policy units in central
government:
Cross Government Climate Change
Project (to ratify the Kyoto Protocol) in
DPMC
Cross Govt. review of Oceans Policy
HASNO unit, Trade negotiations and
Marine policy in MfE
Moved to Golden Bay to start a family;
simultaneously set up Golden Bay Air with
partner
Managing Director of GBA for 6 years;
grew it from 1 aircraft (8 months of the
year) to 3 aircraft (all year round) à Lisa
and partner are both pilots.
Now commuting from Golden Bay - still
trying to balance family and career!
Debbie Suisted
Lou Child
Senior Technical Specialist
Aviation Security
Safety Investigator
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• 2 ½ years with CAA –
investigating aircraft accidents
and incidents
• Initially qualified as a
Comprehensive Nurse
• Change of career to aviation
• Parachute pilot, flight instructor,
bush pilot before joining Air NZ
to fly turbo props
• Went to Sweden to fly turbo
props
• Joined international airline
flying as 737 (jet) captain
• Returned to NZ to fly A320
before joining CAA
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3 years with CAA – surveillance and
monitoring of aviation participants to
prevent acts of unlawful interference
or other crime against the sector.
Strong international focus
10 years as a Police Officer before
leaving to start a family
2nd career with the Aviation Security
Service; 14 years as the Regional
Station Manager
Simultaneously owned and operated a
family accommodation - Chairwoman
of a national accommodation org.
Completed a Graduate Diploma in
Business Studies majoring in Human
Resource Management and a
Bachelor of Aviation Management
(began in mid/late 30s);
Currently studying a Masters in
International Security and
Intelligence.
Aviation – ‘genderly’…
Women make up less than 4 percent of the total jet-qualified pilots in
the world (FAA statistics for ATP-rated women pilots) and there are
fewer than 500 women flying as captains with major airlines
worldwide.
And in New Zealand?
In the land of the long white cloud…
we are more women-centric
Source: Pacific Wings Magazine 2012
CAA’s record on diversity is…
… progressing
…and we are working on it!
Diversity – what are we doing?
• Leadership development
• Recruitment focus
• Pay equity
Thank you.